Mission Trip - Saturday Update and Devotional

Well, we are coming home today! But, it has been an amazing trip. This trip will go down as one of the best mission trips Cedar Run has taken and I pray that we can build upon this and carry the momentum, community and excitement with us into the fall.

Our teams worked so hard yesterday to complete as much work as possible yesterday in their last day. They did such a great job. But, what was even more amazing was to see the looks on our teams faces when they had to leave the families we were ministering to all week. Yes, we did a great work for different families and they were blessed because of it. But, it seemed like we were blessed far more than they were. The memories and stories we have to share are numerous and we will be sharing them all when we return today.

Here is our devotional we will be working on today:

DEVOTIONAL:

Have you ever said something, either blatantly or innocently, that has offended someone? How did that person you offended respond? Were you able to bring resolution to the incident? If so, how?

Read Matthew 5:23-24, 6:14-15, Ephesians 4:25-27

What do these verses say about making a relationship right?


Why should we go and make a relationship right?

Additional Thoughts and Application:

Over the course of a week where you spend 24 hours a day with others, tensions can run high and things can be said to that offend and may even deeply hurt someone else. Whether you intended to do it or now, you may have offended someone over the past week. Because of that offense, a foothold may have been created that could cause friction and ungodly attitudes towards others. Christ calls us to so much more than that. Christ unites, not divides.

Take a minute and think about whether or not you have offended or hurt someone with something you said or did this week. Following the example Christ and Peter talked about, prayerful consider how you can bring reconciliation to a relationship before you leave Coatesville.

Mission Trip - Friday Update and Devotional

Yesterday was a packed day as we accomplished a lot as well as had a great chance to minister to the families we are helping.

Our group basically finished the roof that was desperately needed. Here's a picture of Auston and Trevor taking a breather. It was definitely hotter and more humid today. Other groups finished windows, painted and worked on some interior work. It was a long day, but we are trying to accomplish all we can before we wrap up later today.

After we showered at the YMCA (are you singing the tune in your head now?), we headed over to a very nice park where we invited all the families over for a BBQ. Below is a picture of Heather and Laurel at the swing set with Kylie. We had a great time with them all and got to talk more with the families and learned more about their lives and history. They were all very grateful for us spending time with them and repairing the homes.

As I mentioned yesterday, this trip has been so rewarding. But please, continue to pray for us today:

1. Pray that we can finish strong
2. Pray that God allows more opportunities for us to share the love of Christ with them
3. Pray for the safe travel home for 7 of our students (they are going to YL camp early Saturday morning) and Sue Masters. They are planning on leaving after dinner.

If you would like to follow along with our devotional for the day, here it is.

DEVOTIONAL:

How patient of a person are you? What causes you to become impatient?

Read Philippians 4:6,7; 1 Peter 5:7; Matthew 6:33

What do these verse tell you about patience? Where should our focus be?

How do you think God can help you during times of impatience?

Additional Thoughts and Application:

Today is your last full day on the Mission Trip! Often times, when the end is in sight, I can try to rush things just to get to the end quicker. The problem with doing this is that I can sometimes miss some of the great things I could experience because I was so focused on the end.

Even though this is the last day, God wants to teach you something and reveal himself to you in someway. Spend some time praying that God would teach you something new today and help you grow closer to Him. Then, stay focused throughout the day on being here and what God wants to teach you today.

Mission Trip - Thursday Update and Devotional

I know these are getting kind of long, but please bear with me. This has been a very encouraging trip on a lot of levels:

1. Our group has really bonded well here. In some cases, it feels like these students have known each other for years. I can honestly say that there is not one student in our group who has been left out or felt excluded in any way on this trip (that would be a first). And, I believe this bond can carry over into the fall which will take our group to that next level. This is especially important with losing so many seniors from last year.
2. Our teams are working so hard! As I have mentioned before, we have been asked to do so many things that they have never been asked to do before. But, they have done them and done them with excellence.
3. God is opening up great conversations for me to have with our students. They have always said that going on a trip with youth can replace years of contact work with that I'd be able to do at home. That is very true, especially here on this mission trip. I have had some great conversations with them and gotten to know them in a way I would never have at home.
4. These students love to minister. It may not always be in the verbal proclamation, but they desire to show the love of Christ to others - especially children. When they see them at their homes or at the basketball courts, their eyes light up and they get a new burst of energy being around them.

Pastor Morris came up yesterday to see the students and encourage them. I believe that any time Pastor Morris takes time to see the students or be with them is always a plus. It show them that they matter to him. I have seen to many Senior Pastors never interact with the youth. That is not our Pastor and he does a great job showing our youth that he cares. Gabi Guetierrez couldn't believe that he would come up just for a few hours yesterday to see how we were doing and encourage us.

Some pictures:

This is Auston, Laurel, Trevor and Jonathan working on installing the metal roof on the house we are working on. We made a lot of progress yesterday but PLEASE PRAY that we get the roof on today as they are expecting Thunderstorms this afternoon.

Last night, after our meeting, some of our youth wanted to go watch the Summer League again and see if we could see any more of our V.B.S. youth from last year. Well, we did see more and got a chance to meet a few other students as well. What made this outing great was that after the summer league games were over, Gabi just went up to a few children and started a basketball game! We ended up playing 5-on-5 with these children - very fun.

God is definitely at work here. Please continue to pray for us, for endurance to press on, for God to continue to minister to us and reveal himself to us, and for more ministry opportunities for us to share Him to others.

If you want to track along with what our devotional is today, here it is.

DEVOTIONAL:

Say your friend jus told you he saw a U.F.O. What would it take for you to believe that he was telling the truth?

Read 1 Kings 18:19-39

What did Elijah believe about God?


How did God prevail in this story? Do you think it had anything to do with Elijah’s faith in God? Why or why not?


Additional Thoughts and Application:

What do you believe about God? Do you believe that does not make mistakes? I do and I know that you are here, serving on this trip, for a reason. Whether your parents made you come or you signed up to go with a friend, you are here for a reason! You have been up there for almost a week, so what is that reason? Why does God have you here?

Spend some time with God, asking him to reveal to you what you are suppose to be learning and how you can grow from this experience.

Mission Trip - Wednesday Update and Devotional

Yesterday was another beautiful day up in Coatesville. We have been blessed with really good weather up here - very low humidity and in the low 80s. Because of the great weather, a lot of our work focus has been on outside work. Among other things, yesterday's work consisted of finishing some of the windows we replaced, tearing down a staircase, laying down tile in a bathroom and putting up a new one, and putting on a primer coat on around the a house.

What has impressed me the most so far is how well our students are learning and doing. These are not easy things to do and very few of them have ever done any kind of work like this before. BUT, they are learning and accomplishing the tasks. They are working very hard and have great attitudes about what is expected.

Some great relational work was done as well yesterday. We are continuing to get to know our families and minister to them. On my team, Laurel, Kelly and Jenna got to play with the baby some more and got some good starter conversations with the mother (on Monday, she didn't say anything to them except that they could hold the baby). The husband was at home all day yesterday so we learned a lot about him and he was very interested to know about our church and why we came all the way up from VA to help out.

Last night, we had the "night off" from organized meetings. So, about 15 of us went down to the basketball courts (about 2 blocks away) where Richard Hamiliton (former Wizard, current Piston player) has a Summer Basketball League for Coatesville. He buys them all jerseys and will show up every once in a while (he grew up in Coatesville and is a living legend here). It is some very good basketball to watch. Anyways, when we were down there, we ran into some old friends! We saw some of the V.B.S. students we minister to last year! It was amazing catching up with them. Here is the picture of 2 of the students with Trevor and Joe.

Not bad for a camera phone picture!

Even thought we had the "night off", I did pull our church together to debrief and talk about what we are learning at the sights and in their time with Christ. It is very encouraging to hear their responses - God is working in them. Continue to pray for us. Pray that we remain encouraged with the work we are doing and that the Lord provides opportunities for us to minister to the families we are working for. Also, pray that our group continues to gel together and that we can build strong relationships with each other and the Lord.

If you want to follow along with our devotional today, here it is:

DEVOTIONAL:

How important is prayer to you? What do you pray for? Do you believe that God answers your prayers?

Read Matthew 6:5-13; John 15:7

Jesus gives some guidance in verses 5-8 about where to pray and the manner in which you should pray? What are those?

In verses 9-13, Jesus shows us how to pray? Break it down into today's English. What is he asking you to do in each verse?

V. 9:

V. 10:

V. 11:

V. 12:

V. 13:

Additional Thoughts and Application:

Prayer is a powerful tool God gives us to speak to him and share our heart with him. It is so important he show us exactly how to pray. With today in mind, use the model Christ gave us in verses 9-13 and spend some time right now praying to God. Give him glory and honor, thanking him for all He has done and will continue to do, while also offering up prayers for the day. Remember, God is great and holy. He can and will do anything. Therefore, today, let's seek him and see where he leads and provides.

Mission Trip - Tuesday Update and Devotional

Yesterday was a great start for us. We got met our families and started working on our homes. From the 3 houses, some of what we did was to change out 3 windows, tore out bamboo, took out a microwave, installed flooring and a bathtub thanks to some great help from some local plumbers, and did some exterior beautification. It was neat to see everyone work together and accomplish the tasks we had. I am excited about the work ahead for the day.

But, what made yesterday even better was the interaction with the families. At one house, we had 3 of the children actually help out with the team as they worked on their house! They latched on to the team and just followed them around wherever they went. At my house, 2 of the children were gone to day camp for part of the time. But, there was a 6 month old boy there that Laurel Brubaker, Jenna Millman and Kelly Hard just wanted to pick up and hold. So, when the opportunity came about, and the mother let them hold him, they had a good time as they started to get to know the mother. The 3rd house had a guy who started to share about his love for bikes and that lead to some great conversations.

Please continue to pray for us as we minister to these families and each other. It's some hard work, but pray that God would give us the strength to endure and accomplish some great things for Him.

If you want to follow along with our devotional today, here it is:

DEVOTIONAL:

How would you describe what love is?

Read 1 Corinthians 13

According to this chapter, what are some characteristics of love?

If you do a really good job today and help out a lot of people, but did not love them, your team or God, is that ok? Why or why not?

Additional Thoughts and Application:

Love defined by God can look very different from the way we define love. Reread verses 4-7. What characteristic of love are you really good at and what are you a little weak in? Today, strive to communicate the love of Christ. Write down a few specific things you can do or say to foster the kind of love Paul speaks about here.

Pray, then Love!

Mission Trip - Monday Update and Devotional

The Cedar Run Youth are on our annual mission trip to Coatesville, PA. We arrived safely and ready to do a great work. We are broken up into 3 teams. Each team will have a dedicated house to work on for the entire week. The great news is that every house has 3-5 children there in which we can minister to. In fact, Good Works, Inc. has told us that our 1st priority is to minister to the families and then work on their house. That means that if a child comes up to us and wants to talk and play a game, we are to take the time and minister to them. The work on their house will come later.

We are all very excited for the week ahead. If you want to track along with us on what we are doing devotionally, take a minute and do the devotional below.

DEVOTIONAL

What chore is the hardest for you to do at home? Why?

Read John 14:21

From this verse, what does it mean to obey Jesus?

When we obey, what does that demonstrate?

What does Jesus promise us if we obey?

Additional Thoughts and Application:

Charles Colson once said, “Holiness is obeying God”. We should be striving daily to become holy. Becoming holy comes from obeying God.

Are you obedient to God with your life? Are you being obedient during this trip? Obedience is more than just saying yes and doing the job. It takes place in your heart first and foremost. So, check your heart – how is your heart?

Write down 1 way you can become more obedient this week.

Pray, then Do!

Serving out of Love

On Sunday, Phil Covert shared about serving and how serving others is serving God. Christ, himself, modeled servanthood by coming down to earth and giving his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). But, he didn't just choose to serve others through this one, great deed. He lived his life this way. He served others constantly. One example can be found in John 13:1-17. Take a minute and read it.

1. Why did Jesus do this particular act of service?
2. Why do you think Jesus washed his disciples' feet? Why did Peter want his whole body washed?
3. What did Christ encourage his disciples do now that their feet had been washed (verses 12-17)?

Application:

Make no mistake about it, this was a truly humble experience for Christ. He, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, got down and washed his disciples' feet - probably the dirtiest part of their bodies (Remember, they didn't have close-toed shoes or highly paved sidewalks back then. They walked in sandals on dirt roads).

Why did he do this? Because he wanted to show them the full extent of his love for them (v.1).

Is service to others and God for you an extent of your love for them or is it simply just and act that you are suppose to do?

At the end of his loving act, he challenged his disciples to go and do likewise. This week, choose to serve other and God. But, don't just do it because you are suppose to. Do it with a loving heart and a desire to serve. When we choose to serve that way, then we are truly emulating Christ's example.

Pray, then serve!